A Year of Strawberries
by Asthetic
Summary: Imagination and Creativity was important to Klaus, The Pumpkin Prince. It was anything and everything to him. As long as they were close to his side, he was content. But when another thing interferes,Klaus must learn to accept it. Especially when its love
1. Strawberry Fields Forever

It wasn't exactly the fact that the roses were not dying that made the graveyard look queer. Neither was it the fact that they were not even flakey, or, had petals falling off that made Klaus wonder. They were just purple. Just purple.

They were still pretty, no doubt about that. He ran his skeletal fingers right through its delicate petals, being careful to not make them fall off. It erased his mind of the flower being just pretty. It definitely wasn't pretty to him. In fact it was as far from that as possible. It was beautiful.

He plucked one of them out of the cold, leafy ground, being careful not to harm it in any way. He held it in his right hand, looking off to his left. The pumpkin sun was just on the horizon, ready to set. He grinned once again, pleased that the moon would be back up in the beautiful night sky of Halloween Town soon.

He pivoted so that he faced the iron gates that led to the graveyard, walking his thin, skeletal legs toward them. The dead leaves under his feet crunched into tiny little pieces, being dug into the dirt. The unusually colored flower in his boney hand glistened in the setting pumpkin sun.

'There is going to be a story behind this flower,' Klaus promised to himself. That was the whole reason he had gone to get one; to make a story. Not just a story, though. A story with everything being unique, creativity flowing in and out, plus the strawberries that would be abundant. No, not a story, his story.

He walked up to the iron gate of his house, opening it up and swinging it onto the brick wall by it. He closed it, walking up the stairs that led to the front door. The flower at his side was tucked into his pocket, flowing up and down as he climbed.

He turned the doorknob in front of him, entering into the warm house. The aroma of pumpkin guts swam through the air, taking him with it. Just three weeks until Halloween. The best holiday ever.

"I'm home," He announced, kicking his shoes off onto the velvet feeling carpet that sat under the keyhold and by the bookshelf. His eyes wandered off into the kitchen, trying to find his mother somewhere in her territory. He began walking into the room, seeing his mom shuffling through the kitchen.

There Sally stood in front of the kitchen counter, carving out pumpkin guts from a rather large pumpkin. Her mahogany colored hair covered her back all the way, being tucked behind her ears. She threw the guts onto newspaper, while some of them were bagged in small burlap bags. Klaus grinned widely, knowing what she was going to do with the product in them. Pumpkin Cakes did sound rather good at the moment.

She turned around to see her son, smiling at him. She picked out more guts and placed them onto what used to be a newspaper.

"Oh Klaus," She said, "Good. You're home. Honey, can you please help me bag the guts."

"Sure," Klaus said, picking up one of the empty burlap bags off the counter. He began scooping the remains off the pumpkin and putting them inside the bag, tying them up into knots. "I'm guessing Dad's not home, is he?"

Sally sighed and nodded, while still working.

"Your father should be busy," She told him, "Three weeks before the biggest holiday of this world, Two weeks before your Halloween dance, and five days until his birthday."

Klaus nodded, while shrugging his shoulders. He kept his focus down on the orange paste in his hands.

"I see your point," He said, bagging the rest of the paste and putting it to the side. Sally, finally finished with the pumpkin, picked it up and moved it toward the table where more newspaper sat. Klaus followed her, knowing his next job was coming up.

"By the way," She began, "Have you found yourself a date for that dance yet?"

Klaus looked down at his mother, yes down, with I pink tinge about to reach his boney cheeks. A grin reached his cracking mouth as he began to speak.

"Mom," He laughed in embarrassment. She turned to him, smiling right back at him, "N-no I haven't."

She giggled and reached to pick up a knife from the table. She handed it to her son, placing it gently into his hands.

"Just wondering," She said, "You only have two more weeks to ask. I'd do it before all the good female ghouls are taken. And if you don't get one in time, you can always ask your big sister, Anna..."

"Mom," He groaned, laughing at the end. She laughed with him, stepping onto her tip-toes and kissing him on his forehead.

"I'm just pulling at you," She said, "But I am serious. You should hurry. Now, please carve that pumpkin for me will you? I'm going to risk my life by carrying pumpkin guts up the stairs."

Klaus finished up his job after about thirty minutes of carving. He brought up a bowl of his favorite fruit, strawberries, into his room; setting them down onto the end table. His hands smelled of flowers and pumpkins, making him walk immediately walk into the bathroom. He flicked on the light to the bathroom connected to his room, washing his hands under the faucet. As the warm water went through his bones, he looked down at the purple flower in his pocket. His eyes blinked unevenly as he removed his hands from the sink. While turning off the water his hands reached for the towel that was soon to dry them. He took the towel and cleaned off his hands, throwing it onto the sink. He walked out; pulling the flower out of his pocket.

Lethargically, he sat down onto his bed, gazing at his flower. His hand reached for the bowl of strawberries; grabbing one out from it. He popped it into his mouth, chewing on it softly. The flower, he saw, was shining off of the newly risen moon outside, flaunting off its beauty. A small smile cracked upon his skull, reflecting his beauty.

He opened up the drawer that contained almost everything important to him. His hand pulled out a medium sized ebony box with roses engraved on the edges. Engraved vines surrounded them, chaining them together. He opened the box, raising the top. It went back being held together to the rest of the box with screws and two scarlet red ribbons.

The wooden box held so much. He pulled out what appeared to be old photos from when he was younger, younger being from two weeks old to ten. Shuffling through the pictures, he put them down onto his bed, after trying to calm down from looking at a picture with his dad being tackled by him when he was two.

Other pictures were of his father, mother, his older sister, Anna with her fiancee', John. He put those down as well and put the flower into the box. The pictures went in with them, as he placed them gently at its side. After closing the box, Klaus put it back into the drawer, closing it immediately afterwards. He looked out at the window the looked out at the town, the town that would soon be his.

He removed his hoodie from his body, throwing it carelessly onto the bed he sat on. Swiftly, he picked up the bowl of strawberry goodness and brought it with him to the window seat. He opened it, letting in the smell of Halloween pour in.

So many memories could be seen through out the town in his eyes. He grew up here, he knew here, he loved here. The fountain in the middle of the town of Halloween was where he had thrown up when he was four after eating too many Pumpkin Pasties, bringing back the smell of pumpkins and oats. Down by the town hall was where he opened up his ninth birthday present, the wooden box. Anything and Everything he wanted was here. Here in this town.

His eye sockets trailed everywhere outside. From the corner of his sockets, he saw a trace of long black hair, flowing in the darkness of the early night. Klaus's invisible eyebrows rose up, trying to look straight at the face of this black haired woman that he saw; strawberry juice running down his chin.

The young woman walked around, hands close to her chest. Only reason; a book was being cradled by them. She was blue, but not dark blue. She was a lighter blue, a baby blue. She wore what appeared to be a flowing white blouse, with black skinny jeans, and a small brown jacket.

She walked around the middle of the town, looking around and behind her for traces of people. She stumbled back on her ankles a couple of seconds as Klaus watched her with sheer interest. Gingerly, she sat down on the fountain's rim. She opened up the book after tucking her hair behind her ears.

A mumbling came from her mouth, and it became louder. Klaus raised his head off the window's frame, listening to her intently. She wasn't speaking. She wasn't mumbling.

She was singing.

"Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going through, Strawberry Fields," She sang, "Nothing is real. And Nothing to get hung about. Strawberry Fields Forever."

Her voice enchanted him instantly. The bowl full of strawberries almost fell out of his hands. His mouth slowly cracked into a wide grin, as his boney fingers gripped the frame of the window. He still watched her, listening as her songbird voice.

"Living is easy with eyes closed. Misunderstanding all you see. It's getting hard to be someone, but it all works out. It doesn't matter much to me."

Klaus couldn't control his mouth anymore. His voice was inspired by his, lifting his spirit into the sky. He looked down at her, singing with her.

"Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going through Strawberry Fields. Nothing is real. And nothing to get hung about. Strawberry Fields Forever."

She looked up at him, gasping loudly. Her eyes met his, with Klaus finally getting a good view of her face. It was shaped like an Angel's, staring at him with a surprised expression. She was a corpse. A beautiful one none the less.

He looked back at her, with the same expression. He felt the need to smile at her, tell her it was okay.

Slowly, she stood up, closing the book. He could hear her gasp, while she backed away slowly. She tripped as she tried to turn around and run away.

His hand reached out to her, as she ran into the graveyard. His voice wanted to say, "Wait," but he had done enough. She would've still been there, singing if it wasn't for him. His eyes went back, making him look sad. They turned back to their original circle shape. He looked back to where she used to sit and then looked to where she ran off too, wondering where she could've ran to.

He looked down at his bowl of strawberries, fiddling with one and then dropping it back in. His eyes averted away from them and then to his walls, seeing all of his artwork portrayed. His stitched lip moved up into a small smirk, but it quickly evaporated into the cinnamon smelling air. He looked back to the sky, seeing the beautiful moon there. His voice, inspired by both the moon and the girl, began singing again.

"Is there anybody gone to listen to my story," He sang, leaning his skull against the window's frame, "All about the girl who came to stay."

He looked away from the moon for a while and back into the room, staring at his work, and then going back out the window.

"She's the kind of girl you want so much, it makes you sorry," He continued to sing, "Still you don't regret a single day. A girl."

"Girl."


	2. The Black Bird and The Blue Bird

Sun poured into the world of Halloween, spilling out its rays into Klaus's art infested room. The soft poster boards cringed at the sight of light, calming down after a short second. The alarm clock, which had more than one scribble on it, began beeping loudly, ringing in Klaus's ears.

He lay with his legs curled up in the bed, his skeletal arms under his black, velvet pillow. While mumbling into his rather comfortable pillow, as his long fingers reached out for the clock, searching for it on the table. The bowl of strawberries still sat there, empty, and waiting to be taken back downstairs to the kitchen. He barely poked the button and it stopped. He groaned and slipped his left leg out of the bed, putting all of his weight on it, even though there was barely any.

His left eye opened to a sun's ray, nearly blinding him. He looked away and began to stand up, yawning loudly. He stretched his backbone out as his rib cage went back. His eyelids dropped as he slid on his t-shirt and headed toward the door. He glanced at his calendar, trying to find the date. Wednesday. He grimaced and groaned in his throat looking toward his door. This was going to be a long, long day.

The mansion was filled with the smell of witch's brew, ready to drink. There, Zero lay lounged under Klaus's favorite piece of furniture, the grand piano, lounging leisurely. His pumpkin nose glowed as his ears rose, staring at his Jr. Master. The Master crouched beside him, gently stroking her ears.

"Hey Zero," He whispered, getting a small, almost silent bark in reply. His eyes trailed off to the stairs, looking off from their steps to the rail. I could go down those unadorned steps, Klaus thought, blinking at the stairs. His eyes averted off to the steel rail, squinting at it. A small smirk met his face, cracking through it. "This may work."

His skeletal legs stretched out for him to stand, leading him toward the railing. His hand slapped down onto the steel, making a scratching noise against it. The smirk on his face widened into a grin as he sat himself down onto the rail. He glanced at his dog, who stared at him with his wide eyes.

"Zero," Klaus said, sounding superior, "If I don't come back with all bones, you can have my artwork."

The dog, Zero, stared at him blankly giving him a confused 'ruff'. Klaus made a mock bark, laughing lightly in his throat. His eyes squinted together childishly as he laughed a little more loudly. He looked down at the floor, seeing his untimely fall go through his eye sockets. With one deep breath and a small giggle, Klaus pushed himself down the rail.

I'm flying again, Klaus thought. The sheer adrenaline went through his skull as he soared on the rail, stretching his arms out widely. His dead heart smiled upon him, making him giggle and let out a loud, 'woo-hoo'. I'm like a bird, he thought, a bird set on his first flight. I'm like a blackbird.

He slipped off the bottom part of the rail, flying off it. He landed on the floor, back facing it, laughing straight from his chest cavity. He shut his eyes, curling around on the floor, laughing insanely.

There, upstairs on the third story, awoke another skeleton. Another special one.

Jack Skellington raced down to the bottom story of the manor, half asleep. His beige night cap was falling off his skull while his night shirt began falling off his shoulder. He rubbed his left eye with the back of his boney hand, while looking down at his laughing son.

"K-Klaus," Jack was interrupted by a yawn that urged him to stop speaking. He continued on, while Klaus looked up at him with bliss, "What are you doing?"

"Experimenting," Klaus arched his back, picking the rest of himself up with his long legs, "The stairs aren't exactly the fastest way of transportation from story to story, so I tried the railing. You even said it takes less time than just walking down those creaky steps."

Jack, eye sockets fully open now, stared at his son with a confused look, making Klaus grin. Confusing, yes Klaus was. But he didn't like it any other way, thoughts the same like everybody else's. Jack glanced toward the black cat clock, realizing how early it was. 5:48.

"You test this early in the morning," Jack asked, rubbing the back of his boney neck. Klaus shrugged.

"Ehh, you can't really blame me," He said leisurely, walking toward the kitchen. Jack followed him, ready for some witches brew after his rude awakening, "You were like this, oh, nineteen years ago? Three or two years before I was born at least."

Jack laughed, grabbing the brewing pot out and pouring him some brew.

"Your mother tell you the story about that Christmas Eve?" He asked, watching his son slide onto the counter.

"Actually," Klaus said, grabbing the pot after his dad, "You told me that a long time ago."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I was only four. I had thrown up after eating Mom's Pumpkin Pasties," He drank out of his mug, chugging down the brew quickly to get ready, "You told me that night when I couldn't sleep."

Jack laughed, slurping some of his brew down. Klaus placed his mug into the sink, snake-like sliding off the counter.

"You introduced me to Sandy, right?" Klaus asked, walking off into the living room and snatching up his book bag. Jack shrugged, placing his cup down and reaching for the cabinet.

"A long time ago," He told his son, "Is the topic ringing any bells?"

"Some," Klaus replied heading toward the stairs again. His eyes moved toward the top of the house, realizing how low he was. No way by taking the fast way right?

He began running up the steps, them echoing through the mansion. Zero, who had eventually become his normal hyperactive self, followed his master up the stairs, almost like a race.

The Skeleton made it to his room, dropping his bag onto the floor. The sun bounced off the bowl that had once contained strawberries, making a light red color appear. Klaus's trademark grin spread as he searched around his room with his eyes, making his art shine off. He walked over to his dresser, pulling out jeans and a skinny shirt, removing his old t-shirt from his milky white colored bones. He threw it onto his bed, slipping on the other shirt while averting his eyes all over the place.

The room glistened in the red light that became contagious. Klaus smirked and wrapped his book bag's strap around his shoulder. He grabbed the bowl of what once contained strawberries, and walked out the door of his room, making the redness of the room disappear.

Ghoulington Academy wasn't different in any way. The huge buildings that held each station of learning were the same, the teachers were all the same, and the students were still as young as they would ever be. The abundant sound of gossip, laughing, and flying was well aware to Klaus as he walked around the crowds of students.

The West Wing held the Seniors and Juniors, while the East Wing held the Sophomores and Freshmen. Klaus headed toward the flight of stairs that led to the West Wing, going past all the crowds of Seniors and Juniors.

He past a crowd of combined Senior and Junior females, glancing at them for only a short second, until his eye sockets were caught by a familiar face.

The Corpse.

She stared at him with her wide eyes, mouth curved into a small, surprised gap. The light that reflected off her blue skin made her look even lighter, as Klaus watched her with his wide eye sockets. She clenched her book-bag close to her skinny body, looking right back at him.

It wasn't until then did Klaus realize he was staring.

He shook his skull and continued walking down the hall, head toward the corner. He could here the female monsters giggling loudly and acknowledging what had just happened. He even heard one of them say, "I think he likes you."

His skull turned light pink as he turned the corner, still trying to recover. His head turned over his shoulder for a short second, connecting eyes with the crowded hallway.

"My, my, she's a blue bird," Klaus sang softly to himself, "A black-eyed Blue bird."

"Oh, hail down, it's the Pumpkin Prince!" A loud group of male voices rang. The loud laughing of the students accompanied them, as Klaus turned his head to see his friends picking him up from his spot.

"Hey! Hey!" Klaus yelled, laughing along.

"Here he comes!" The Vampire male sang, suavely.

"Bones in all!" The Werewolf chimed.

"White as Bone!" A Frog like creature chirped.

"But thick as a wick!" They all sang, bouncing Klaus up and down, "And here he comes! Grinning Widely!"

They ended their song by throwing Klaus into the air and catching him. They all laughed as Klaus blushed a deep, deep shade of red, making everybody laugh. He could hear a faint, "We love you Klaus!" come form a group of girls in the background. He rubbed the top of his skull, grinning widely, as the song said.

"Nice intro, Carmen" Klaus said, looking toward his handsome, vampire friend named Carmen. He shrugged, smiling deviously while flaunting off his sharp teeth.

"It took us forever to just get that much," He told Klaus. His eyes averted toward the werewolf, who had less facial hair than the average wolf, "Benny got us farther in the song than anyone else did though, so you can thank him."

"Thanks," said Klaus sarcastically. Benny let out a small gruff as the group began to walk to their classes, still messing around with Klaus.

"So, ha, what about that new girl in school?" The frog like boy said.

"There are girls coming from every direction to this school," Carmen said, "Can you be a little more descriptive, Milo?"

Milo spat out a loogie and then began his rant again.

"That corpse girl," He said, looking straight up at Carmen and then to Klaus.

Klaus's ears rang to this. He looked down at Milo, eyes contracted.

"Do you know her name?" He asked, walking past Extracting and Exploding 101. Milo shook his head.

"Nope," The Frog said, tucking his hands into his pockets, "Sorry, man, but I got nothin' on her. I only know she's a total babe, man. I mean whew have you seen those-,"

"Rumor is she's the only dead one in her family," Carmen murmured toward Klaus, fiddling with one of his pins.

"What do you mean?" Klaus asked, bringing his bag's strap closer to his neck. Carmen shook his head and looked toward the skeleton.

"I mean her parent's are still upstairs," He told him, "In the Mortal world."

"Really?" Klaus asked, glancing to his side. 'My, my, Blue Bird, why are you crying?'

"It's deep, man," Milo said, jumping up, tightening his grip on his book-bag, "I wouldn't be surprised if she had her mind coo-coo-ca-chooin'."

Carmen scoffed and slapped the back of Milo's scale filled head. The Frog retaliated by yelling, 'hey,' and then coming back up.

"Just sayin', man," He croaked, rubbing his scales.

"Still," Benny said, arms crossed, "The girl seemed nice. I've seen how she acts before."

"Yeah, and by the looks of it," Carmen switched his topaz eyes toward Klaus staring up at him, "She's really into skeletons."

Klaus blushed a brighter red, if that were possible, and looked away from his friends; embarrassed. He headed to his class, walking in with Carmen, who accordingly had the same class at the same time. They both sat at the same table, watching the teacher at the blackboard, writing what appeared to be assignment in orange chalk. Klaus nudged Carmen's elbow, signaling for him to get his notebook out. The teacher turned around, squinted eyes staring at Klaus and Carmen.

"Ah, The Pumpkin Prince and his accomplice," The Old green woman croaked, raising a nude eyebrow, "Nice of you to join us after five minutes of waiting."

"Sorry, Ma'am," Klaus said, eye sockets focused on opening the notebook.

"It won't ever happen again Ma'am," Carmen added, opening his up. The woman squinted through her moon-shape cut glasses, glaring at the two with her old eyes.

"I wish you two luck with that," She croaked, averting her gaze to the rest of the class, "Alright class."

She pointed to the bored with her wrinkled green finger, advising them to look at the blackboard. Klaus tapped his boney fingers against the desk in front of him, being hushed by the girl that sat in front of him.

"You see the assignment on the board," The Professor said, "'The Halloween Method'. You will have to make what we monsters like to call a model of your favorite parts of Halloween Town. You will have a partner that you will work with as well."

Klaus and Carmen looked at each other, hitting fists; a signal they were partnered up together. They looked back to see the Professor, watching the class.

"Do not get your hopes up for partners, though," She croaked shaking her head, "I have already assigned partners for each of you."

The class sighed, looking at who they wanted to be their partner. The Professor watched them again, interrupting their little fest of disappointment.

"Now, I will not have any of that," She croaked loudly, "You will have the partner you are assigned. Now, is that clear?"

"Yes, Madame Beltrix," The class said, as unenthusiastic as they could get it."

She nodded and replied lightly. She shuffled over to her desk as Klaus's eyes searched the room. The class's students were still seated in the same places. Harold sat in the front left corner with Macie by his side. Bella and Edward sat next to each other, like always for the two lovers. Then Kyle and Mike, Marie with Taylore, and then Tarin with...

Klaus almost tipped off his seat at the shock. Yeah, Ghoulington was a school with many classes, but this? How could the corpse be here in the class he was at right then, exactly diagonally sitting from her. He gulped and looked at Professor Beltrix, who held a piece of cob-webbed paper, squinting at it.

"Bella," She started, "You will be with Tarin. Macie with Harold. Taylore wit Carmen. Klaus...,"

He gulped and sniffed, looking from his hands to the Professor.

"Ahh, this is a good pair," Klaus heard her mumble, "Klaus, you will be with our new girl in the school, Ms. Clarisse."

Clarisse. The name echoed in Klaus's skull like a non-stop screech of a cat. Clarisse. She looked back at him with her wide, innocent eyes, left hand lost in her long, raven black hair. Her tiny mouth gaped open and then turned into a small smile, as she began to tuck her hair behind her ear. Klaus blushed again, returning the smile.

This was going to be an interesting project to accomplish.


End file.
